The CW has decided to move forward with a backdoor pilot for a The Vampire Diaries spinoff that could expand the franchise into two separate series next year. Currently titled The Originals, the backdoor pilot will air as part of the current season of The Vampire Diaries on April 25. The story will center around the original vampire family and stars Joseph Morgan as Klaus and Phoebe Tonkin.
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So, anyway, basically in another thread I was speculating about the fate of CW shows by the end of the season. Obviously, I don't have ANY insider information, but I would say this news is probably not good news for at least one of the four CW bubble shows (for the record: The Vampire Diaries, Arrow, nor Supernatural are bubble shows - baring a late season ratings drop those three shows will be renewed), because if the CW is testing a spin-off then unless the backdoor pilot is horribly bad or not well received by fans (and even if fans don't respond well it's more likely that the pilot would be retooled before going to series than it would be for the idea to be scrapped entirely). So now it's even more likely that at least two of the following will not be renewed for another season: 90210, Hart of Dixie, Beauty and the Beast, and/or Nikita, and more worry for fans is that if one (or both) of the mid-season entries (The Carrie Diaries and/or Cult) rate well then that means at the very least THREE (probably four) of the current CW bubble shows will be canceled.
Anyway, as I said (and still firmly believe) The Vampire Diaries, Arrow, and Supernatural will be renewed for another season. And two side notes here first that America's Next Top Model has been renewed but also noted that it will become a summer only series, and while Emily Owens, M.D. will air all thirteen episodes ordered and made that will be the end of it. So, basically (assuming, as I do that the three previously mentioned shows will be renewed) that leaves the CW with seven hours to fill next season, and then consider how likely it is The Originals will be ordered to series then that leaves the CW with only six hours left to fill. Now there are options:
I still lean toward Nikita being renewed despite that fact that it has horrible ratings. However, more and more I'm suspecting that Nikitta will end up airing a final season as a summer show, because even for the CW on Friday Nikitas ratings suck ass. Then there's 90210 and the fact that the CW has proven again and again that they LOVE giving their old shows a proper send off, which means it's possibly (maybe even likely) that 90210 will get at least a shortened final season (unless the CW soon announces something regarding that - like just saying that at the end of this season 90210 will end). However, Gossip Girls final season didn't boost its ratings at all, and 90210 only did little better this season than Gossip Girl which might inspire the CW to just end it. So we come to Hart of Dixie the show that was cheap enough to get the renewal last season where as Ringer and The Secret Circle didn't - that's relevant because The Secret Circle actually rated slightly better (most of the time) than Hart of Dixie so it's almost certainly the high cost of making the show that got it canceled. Hart of Dixie is almost insanely stable ratings-wise, but stable though they may be they are also low, AND ordering a third season of Hart of Dixie would almost certainly mean that a fourth season would happen. Finally, there's Beauty and the Beast, which I've heard rumors about this being made at almost Canadian import prices, which means it could be cheap enough to renew as long as its ratings don't fall any further.
As I said I'm leaning toward a renewal but move to summer for Nikita (which means even with a renewal that hour of primetime broadcast season would be open for a new show), and while I was almost ready (before) to say the CW would almost certainly (ratings be damned) give 90210 a short final season I admit that I'm actually starting to wonder if the CW might just let it end at the end of this season - if that's the case news of that will probably break soon, so the longer there is no news the more likely it is that 90210 will get a short final season. If the rumors I've heard are true then it's likely Beauty and the Beast will score a renewal (unless ratings tank when the show returns, which happened last season with The Secret Circle) and that does admittedly limit Hart of Dixie's chances. On the other hand, if those rumors aren't true then Beauty and the Beast will most likely get the ax while Hart of Dixie sneaks through again.
However, since there's no ratings data yet for The Carries Diaries and Cult that means everything is more in the air than usual, because if one does well then at least two of the previously mentioned shows would need to be canceled/moved to summer, and if both do well then that means three of the above would need to be canceled/moved to summer. Meaning if both do well it's likely that 90210, Hart of Dixie, AND Beauty and the Beast would be canceled. Because remember the CW typically orders two thru four new shows a season, so even on the low side adding two shows to the above renewals and one likely pick-up fills eight hours of the CW schedule leaving them only two left to fill and if the mid-season entries rate well that fills those slots. However, even still a short final season of 90210 could still be ordered and left to debut in the spring to cover the CW if one of their new shows pulls an Emily Owens, M.D.. And I do think at least one of the potential three new shows the CW picks up would be another mid-season entry again to cover fall failures. Basically, I'm just saying that if you connect all the dots things aren't exactly looking good for Hart of Dixie and Beauty and the Beast, and aren't exactly looking sunny for 90210 nor Nikita.